The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in collaboration with the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Nairobi (UoN), will host an international scientific conference on Tana River County from 11th to 13th February 2014 in Mombasa. The theme of the conference is: “The Impact of Climate Change on Natural Resources and Human Activities in Tana River County, Kenya.” The sub-themes have been identified as:

(1) Land use and land cover change/sustainable land management.

(2) Irrigation and the environment.

(3) Land tenure systems, conflicts and community livelihoods.

(4) Population dynamics and livelihood systems.

(5) Environmental disasters and coping strategies.

(6) Integrated water resources management in a changing climate.

(7) Agriculture and food security.

(8) Culture and natural resources management.

(9) Biodiversity, ecosystems and tourism.

(10) Geopolitics and development issues.

(11) Climate change adaptation and mitigation.

For more information, click here to download the detailed call for abstracts

The Department of Geography & Environmental Studies in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland, conducted a four days integrative training workshop from 14th to 19th February, 2013. The theme of the workshop was “sustainable management of land resources for rural development”. The workshop brought together 33 postgraduate students and 7 staff members. The workshop was officially opened by Dr. Rayya Timamy, the Associate Dean Faculty of Arts and Dr. Boniface Kiteme from CETRAD gave a key note address.

The 2013 Tunza International Youth Conference (10th to 14th February) provided a platform for over 300 youth from 100 countries across the globe. The University of Nairobi had 30 delegates but 100 students participated during the grand opening day. The youth came together to exchange information on best practices for sustainable development. The conference provided a forum in which several issues were discussed: the role of youths in entrepreneurship; sustainable development in consumption and production; forest conservation; waste management; water resources management; state of environment; and youth governance. Students from the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, and specifically members of the University of Nairobi Geography Students Society (UNGSS), were among the active participants in the conference.

In June 2012, Dr. Francis Mwaura, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Nairobi was awarded a grant by the African Climate Change Fellowship Programme (ACCFP) as part of the Adaptation Teaching Fellowships, to conduct a project on “Climate Change Integration in the Education Sector”. The ACCFP is sponsored by the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA), which is funded jointly by International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada and the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). ACCFP is managed by the Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA-UDSM) in partnership with the global change System for Analysis, Research and Training (USA). A successful dialogue workshop on Environment and Natural Resources Management Education for Sustainable Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change was held on Monday 21st January, 2013 at the Chiromo Conference Center, University of Nairobi. The workshop objectives were: a) to familiarize with the ACCFP and other climate change initiatives in Kenya, b) to contribute to the Kenya ACCFP project and c) to identify collaboration opportunities for improved climate change integration in the education sector. The workshop was attended by scholars from public universities in Kenya and Canada and it was also graced by the presence of NEMA DG., Prof. Geoffrey Wahungu and the Principal KWSTI among others.